Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a method for controlling the same, and a storage medium.
Description of the Related Art
Some image forming apparatuses have a plurality of discharge destinations (discharge trays), and can set which of the discharge destinations to be use and set the priority orders of the discharge destinations on a job-by-job basis. Assume, for example, an image forming apparatus with three discharge destinations (discharge trays 1, 2, 3), in which the priority orders of the discharge destinations in a copy job are as follows: the discharge tray 2 is given the first priority, the discharge tray 1 is given the second priority, and the discharge tray 3 is given the third priority. In this case, printouts of a copy job are discharged to the discharge tray 2, unless there is any particular reason. In the case where the function and the sheet type set for a copy job are not fit for the discharge tray 2 but are fit for the discharge tray 1, discharge is performed using the discharge tray 1, which comes second in the priority order.
Meanwhile, some discharge trays have a shift function, which is one of discharge functions. Shift is a function for outputting printouts such that they are shifted by approximately 1 cm on a copy-by-copy basis, thereby making it easy to sort the printouts. As a user is less likely to recognize the shift function as something that should be manually set, the shift function is generally set with preset values (default). Some discharge trays have the shift function while others do not have such a shift function; therefore, there are cases in which the designated priority orders of discharge destinations contradict the shift setting. In the case where a discharge destination that cannot perform shift and the shift function are designated concurrently, control may be performed so as to place priority on discharge using the designated discharge destination, that is to say, perform discharge without performing shift (priority on the discharge destination).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-91092 proposes a technique to enable acceptance or appropriate handling by a sheet post-processing apparatus even if there is a discrepancy in the settings of “processing” and “discharge destination” transmitted from an image forming apparatus.
However, the foregoing conventional techniques have the following problems. For example, in the case where the shift function is designated with preset values, even if a discharge tray that cannot perform shift has a high priority order, placing priority on the shift function results in discharge using a discharge tray that can perform shift unless the user specifically cancels the shift. That is to say, even in the case where the discharge destination and the discharge destination priority orders set by the user are designated, there is a possibility that printouts are not output to a desired discharge destination. On the other hand, as stated earlier, if control is performed to place priority on the discharge destination, even in the case where the user wishes to use the shift function, there is a possibility that printouts are discharged without being shifted unless a discharge destination having a high priority order does not have the shift function.